More than 6,100 individuals have secured Canadian citizenship certificates under relaxed eligibility rules enacted late last year, with over half residing in the United States.
Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals that as of May 31, individuals born in the United States made up 51% of all successful citizenship certificate applications under the broadened rules.
The shift follows the implementation of Bill C-3 on December 15, 2025, which amended Canada’s Citizenship Act. For individuals born before this date, Bill C-3 extends citizenship eligibility to anyone who can prove direct lineage from a Canadian ancestor, regardless of how many generations have passed since that ancestor left the country. This overhauls the previous “first-generation limit” on citizenship by descent, which the Ontario Superior Court struck down as unconstitutional in 2023.
This expanded eligibility triggered a predictable spike in verification requests. Behind the dominant American demographic, the highest volumes of approved applications came from individuals born in Mexico at 20.5%, Bolivia at 6.1%, the United Kingdom and its territories at 3.2%, and Belize at 2.2%.
Al Parsai, a Toronto immigration consultant and Queen’s University adjunct professor, noted that his agency has observed consistent interest in Canadian citizenship certificates, particularly from U.S. residents.
Parsai believes two major factors are intersecting: the ongoing geopolitical environment in the United States and Canada’s recent elimination of the first-generation restriction on citizenship by descent. He noted that the timing provides certain Americans with both the motivation to look into alternative options and a fresh legal mechanism to secure Canadian citizenship.
This policy shift has triggered a frantic search for archival files and genealogical histories to bolster applications. Among those digging into the past are descendants of the thousands of French-speaking Acadians who relocated to Louisiana after British forces expelled them from the Canadian Maritimes during the 18th century.
However, tracking down and validating historical records, such as centuries-old marriage licenses or naturalization papers, often proves highly challenging.
Parsai emphasized that the paperwork phase is frequently far more intricate than applicants anticipate. He explained that uncovering a Canadian ancestor is merely the first step, as applicants must still verify the complete legal and documentary chain of custody to justify their citizenship claim.
As application volumes spike, processing delays have surged dramatically. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reports that a citizenship certificate application now takes roughly 25 months to finalize—a massive jump from the nine- to 10-month wait times recorded earlier this year. Applicants filing from outside Canada and the United States face an additional three to four months of waiting.
The IRCC notes that approximately 121,800 individuals are currently stuck in the citizenship certificate queue. This backlog consists of applicants qualifying under the expanded rules, individuals requesting replacement documents, and people whose parents were born on Canadian soil.
In a statement to CTVNews.ca, an IRCC representative defended the agency’s management of the influx.
The spokesperson stated that the IRCC implemented several preparatory measures ahead of Bill C-3’s rollout and remains committed to processing files as swiftly as possible without compromising the citizenship program’s integrity. They added that this requires adequate time to confirm that applicants satisfy all legal parameters, ensuring decisions remain fair, consistent, and lawful.
